Production has begun on Season 8 of "Doctor Who" with Peter Capaldi at the helm of the TARDIS.

Capaldi plays the Twelfth Doctor after Matt Smith left the show in the recent Christmas episode, "The Time of the Doctor." Capaldi made his first appearance as the Doctor in the show's 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor" and appeared at the end of "The Time of the Doctor."

"New job, first day, slightly nervous," Capaldi was quoted as saying as he arrived on set in Cardiff. "Just like the Doctor, I'm emerging from the TARDIS into a whole other world."

BBC America has released this first image of shooting featuring Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, who plays the Doctor's companion Clara.

"In the same way as I was welcomed, I'm looking forward to doing that, to helping a new Doctor find his feet in what is going to be a really exciting adventure for him," Coleman told me during San Diego Comic Con last July. (Watch the video.)

Making reference to Capaldi's brief appearances in the earlier episodes, lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said in the release: "First the eyebrows! Then, at Christmas, the face! Coming soon, the whole Doctor. In the Cardiff studios, the Capaldi era begins."

Moffat wrote the first episode of Season 8, while Phil Ford wrote the second. The episodes are directed by Ben Wheatley. Filming on Season 8 is taking place in Cardiff until August 2014 with a premiere date later in the year.